RAWALPINDI: Taking notice of delay in construction of dispensary for labourers by Social Security Department, the district administration on Friday asked the labour welfare director to submit a report about progress on the project within three days.

The project came under discussion during a meeting held at Deputy Commissioner offices with Additional Deputy Commissioner Mian Behzad Alam in the chair. The meeting was attended by senior officials of the district administration.

A senior official of the district administration told Dawn that the social security department had collected funds from brick kiln owners for setting up a dispensary but could not execute the project.

He said the district administration had asked the labour director to submit a report within three days about the funds and the establishment of the health facility.

He said the meeting also took up a complaint by a woman in which she said that she went to a public hospital with labour pain but doctors refused to entertain her and she had to give birth to a baby at home.

“The meeting decided to get the report from the allied hospitals in this regard,” he said.

The meeting was informed that the Labour Department had registered as many as 914 child labours and sent them to government schools and gave Rs1,000 per family in lieu of their enrollment.

The meeting was informed that the Labour Department was conducting a survey to identify the child labour so that they could be sent to schools.

Director Labour Fazal Hussain said the department did not receive any complaint regarding forced labour from any part of the district. However, he said, the labour inspector had kept an eye on different workshops, industrial units and hotels to check child labour.

He said that the Labour Department was working on a project to impart education to the children under public-private partnership.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2018